Market Research Resources: Exploring A New Facebook Tool

In modern marketing, Facebook reigns supreme. Whether you’re selling uniforms, protective gear, or any other product, appearing on this social media giant is critical for attracting and engaging with customers. It’s not hard to see why uniform marketers devote so much time and energy to managing their Facebook pages, designing and testing Facebook ads, and otherwise making the most of the platform.

Recent developments give you yet another way to benefit from Facebook. In response to concerns about ad transparency and accuracy, the platform created a tool that lets users look up any company’s advertising campaigns. You can use this application to conduct market research on your competitors and gain a competitive advantage in the uniform industry.

The Benefits of Facebook’s New Feature

To use this new feature, all you have to do is go to a company’s Facebook profile and click on “Info and Ads” in the menu on the left. The platform will then direct you to a list of ads that the company has run, allowing you to gauge their specific advertising strategy. You can filter these ads based on the location where they’re shown and other factors, so you have a specific idea of how your competitor is targeting them. And you can see any other names that your competitor uses, along with all ads released under each name.

These features are beneficial for market research in any field, but they are particularly valuable within the uniform industry. By gathering information on Facebook’s new application, you can:

• Identify Linked Brands– Uniform companies sometimes market themselves under multiple different brand names, each for a different product or target market. When your competitors do this, it can be difficult for you to tell if different ads released under different names are part of a coordinated strategy. By finding out all the names associated with a competitor, you can assess such strategies and prepare yourself to counter them.
• Assess Local Marketing Strategies– If you’re selling uniforms in a market for the first time and aren’t sure how to write your ads, it can help to mirror what competitors are doing. Using this Facebook application, you can look up what ads they’ve released in your particular area, identify keywords they keep coming back to, and incorporate those keywords into your own content. You can also use their ads to get a sense of local phrasings and speech patterns so your ads sound more authentic.
• See What They Leave Out– When looking at competitors’ ads, pay attention to what they don’t say. For example, if a company never mentions safety, that suggests their uniforms don’t appreciably reduce workplace hazards. If yours do, you can make yourself look superior by emphasizing safety in your ads.

Here at UniformMarket powered by Sellers Commerce, we provide you with tools such as Uniform Program Management and Retail Commerce, which can connect you with the products and data you need for your employees or business. Whether you are a uniform retailer or an energy company needing to fit your employees with new uniforms and gear, we have the tools and services for you.  Contact us for a demo today!